Elisa Fadda
@elisafadda.bsky.social
Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Southampton, head chef at https://GlycoShape.org, Salem's butler, fucose fanatic #glycotime everyday! She/Her
Pinned
Elisa Fadda
@elisafadda.bsky.social
· Nov 13
As we (my lab and I) are new here 😻, let me introduce some exciting #glycotime work we recently published in Nature Methods doi.org/10.1038/s415... GlycoShape is a completely OA database and toolbox to restore the 3D structure of glycans on glycoproteins 🥳 You can find it at glycoshape.org 1/2
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
New podcast episode just dropped! @timcoulson.bsky.social I are joined by Simon Newstead and David Bennett who have identified a new genetic link to chronic pain - solved the structure of the protein that the gene encodes and linked its function to pain.
youtu.be/ETGzmy_BfCg
youtu.be/ETGzmy_BfCg
Science Of The Times Ep 31 Cracking The Code of Chronic Pain
YouTube video by Science Of The Times Podcast
youtu.be
December 1, 2025 at 8:40 AM
New podcast episode just dropped! @timcoulson.bsky.social I are joined by Simon Newstead and David Bennett who have identified a new genetic link to chronic pain - solved the structure of the protein that the gene encodes and linked its function to pain.
youtu.be/ETGzmy_BfCg
youtu.be/ETGzmy_BfCg
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
We now have an unprecedented level of income & wealth inequality.
It isn’t acceptable that the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%, while a majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
We must stand together & create an economy that works for all, not just the few.
It isn’t acceptable that the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%, while a majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
We must stand together & create an economy that works for all, not just the few.
November 30, 2025 at 10:00 PM
We now have an unprecedented level of income & wealth inequality.
It isn’t acceptable that the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%, while a majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
We must stand together & create an economy that works for all, not just the few.
It isn’t acceptable that the top 1% owns more wealth than the bottom 93%, while a majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck.
We must stand together & create an economy that works for all, not just the few.
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
Surprising discovery of a covalent activator of a C-type lectin!
We identified the first covalent small-molecule activators of the human C-type lectin DC-SIGN.
Instead of inhibiting glycan binding, two warheads increased DC-SIGN activity.
Open access here:
doi.org/10.1002/anie...
We identified the first covalent small-molecule activators of the human C-type lectin DC-SIGN.
Instead of inhibiting glycan binding, two warheads increased DC-SIGN activity.
Open access here:
doi.org/10.1002/anie...
Covalent Activation of the C‐type Lectin DC‐SIGN
We introduce the first covalent activators of a C-type lectin. Using orthogonal functional assays, NMR, MS/MS, and computational modeling, we delineate mechanisms from a functional electrophile-first...
doi.org
November 30, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Surprising discovery of a covalent activator of a C-type lectin!
We identified the first covalent small-molecule activators of the human C-type lectin DC-SIGN.
Instead of inhibiting glycan binding, two warheads increased DC-SIGN activity.
Open access here:
doi.org/10.1002/anie...
We identified the first covalent small-molecule activators of the human C-type lectin DC-SIGN.
Instead of inhibiting glycan binding, two warheads increased DC-SIGN activity.
Open access here:
doi.org/10.1002/anie...
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
The X Effect and the dangers of social media bias
Sky News' investigation The X Effect has exposed a right-wing bias in X's algorithm, which boosts extreme content over left-wing voices | Cliff Mitchell
@cliffmitchell.bsky.social @sdupp.bsky.social
Sky News' investigation The X Effect has exposed a right-wing bias in X's algorithm, which boosts extreme content over left-wing voices | Cliff Mitchell
@cliffmitchell.bsky.social @sdupp.bsky.social
The X Effect and the dangers of social media bias
Sky News' investigation The X Effect has exposed a right-wing bias in X's algorithm, which boosts extreme content over left-wing voices
centralbylines.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 10:51 AM
The X Effect and the dangers of social media bias
Sky News' investigation The X Effect has exposed a right-wing bias in X's algorithm, which boosts extreme content over left-wing voices | Cliff Mitchell
@cliffmitchell.bsky.social @sdupp.bsky.social
Sky News' investigation The X Effect has exposed a right-wing bias in X's algorithm, which boosts extreme content over left-wing voices | Cliff Mitchell
@cliffmitchell.bsky.social @sdupp.bsky.social
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
“Intuition would make you think, the more entanglement we have, the better our quantum computer is,” said particle physicist Chris White. “That actually turns out to be completely false.”
Particle Physicists Detect ‘Magic’ at the Large Hadron Collider | Quanta Magazine
The supercollider is now being used to explore quantum phenomena, including a “magic” form of quantum entanglement.
www.quantamagazine.org
November 30, 2025 at 7:06 PM
“Intuition would make you think, the more entanglement we have, the better our quantum computer is,” said particle physicist Chris White. “That actually turns out to be completely false.”
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
🎉 We've now hit £200,000!
📈 It keeps going up and up so we've set a new stretch target!
🙌🏼 Thank you to everyone who's donated.
💚 Hope is here. It's all of us.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hopeishere
📈 It keeps going up and up so we've set a new stretch target!
🙌🏼 Thank you to everyone who's donated.
💚 Hope is here. It's all of us.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hopeishere
Hope is here: help us deliver it
Hope is here. In just 5 hours, we hit our £100,000 target. We're upping our target. Let's take the fight to Reform in May.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk
November 30, 2025 at 4:10 PM
🎉 We've now hit £200,000!
📈 It keeps going up and up so we've set a new stretch target!
🙌🏼 Thank you to everyone who's donated.
💚 Hope is here. It's all of us.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hopeishere
📈 It keeps going up and up so we've set a new stretch target!
🙌🏼 Thank you to everyone who's donated.
💚 Hope is here. It's all of us.
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hopeishere
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
This is great. More please! The more folk who rely on LLMs for funding planning means my chances go up even before I submit!
November 30, 2025 at 5:54 PM
This is great. More please! The more folk who rely on LLMs for funding planning means my chances go up even before I submit!
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
Since AI slop is again all over Scientific Reports, a thread on the economics of grey-zone publishing.
Why does slop keep getting published? What does it mean for science? How can we stop this?
Background readings:
Understand the strain: tinyurl.com/2b6wxx5r
Stop the drain: tinyurl.com/3jfscscy
Why does slop keep getting published? What does it mean for science? How can we stop this?
Background readings:
Understand the strain: tinyurl.com/2b6wxx5r
Stop the drain: tinyurl.com/3jfscscy
November 30, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Since AI slop is again all over Scientific Reports, a thread on the economics of grey-zone publishing.
Why does slop keep getting published? What does it mean for science? How can we stop this?
Background readings:
Understand the strain: tinyurl.com/2b6wxx5r
Stop the drain: tinyurl.com/3jfscscy
Why does slop keep getting published? What does it mean for science? How can we stop this?
Background readings:
Understand the strain: tinyurl.com/2b6wxx5r
Stop the drain: tinyurl.com/3jfscscy
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
But it's just whack-a-mole.
Incentives to grey-zone your publisher affect the whole industry. MDPI is down, but grey-zone authors & their demand for CV lines haven't gone anywhere.
Picking up the flag where MDPI dropped it, it's just business.
Submissions to other OA mega-journals skyrocketed.
Incentives to grey-zone your publisher affect the whole industry. MDPI is down, but grey-zone authors & their demand for CV lines haven't gone anywhere.
Picking up the flag where MDPI dropped it, it's just business.
Submissions to other OA mega-journals skyrocketed.
November 30, 2025 at 11:10 AM
But it's just whack-a-mole.
Incentives to grey-zone your publisher affect the whole industry. MDPI is down, but grey-zone authors & their demand for CV lines haven't gone anywhere.
Picking up the flag where MDPI dropped it, it's just business.
Submissions to other OA mega-journals skyrocketed.
Incentives to grey-zone your publisher affect the whole industry. MDPI is down, but grey-zone authors & their demand for CV lines haven't gone anywhere.
Picking up the flag where MDPI dropped it, it's just business.
Submissions to other OA mega-journals skyrocketed.
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
Leopards, faces, etc.
Major AI conference flooded with peer reviews written fully by AI
Controversy has erupted after 21% of manuscript reviews for an international AI conference were found to be generated by artificial intelligence.
www.nature.com
November 30, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Leopards, faces, etc.
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
Our bone marrow consists of specialized tissue made up of bone cells, blood vessels, nerves and other cell types. Now, researchers @biomedizin.unibas.ch have succeeded for the first time in recreating this cellular complexity using only human cells. This could reduce the need for animal experiments.
Researchers build bone marrow model entirely from human cells
Researchers are realistically recreating human bone marrow in the laboratory using artificial bone structures and human cells.
www.unibas.ch
November 18, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Our bone marrow consists of specialized tissue made up of bone cells, blood vessels, nerves and other cell types. Now, researchers @biomedizin.unibas.ch have succeeded for the first time in recreating this cellular complexity using only human cells. This could reduce the need for animal experiments.
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
I believe that we are about to see a major scientific conflict play out here on BlueSky, for better or for worse. I'll weigh in on this on the blog once I'm sure that I understand everyone's positions:
Why the brand of phase separation proposed by Tony Hyman is pseudoscientific and why it makes him incompatible with leadership of EMBL @embl.org, a major European institution in Molecular Biology #MolecularBiology
🧵A thread
#science #PhaseSeparation #BlueSkyScience #AcademicBluesky #BioSky
🧵A thread
#science #PhaseSeparation #BlueSkyScience #AcademicBluesky #BioSky
November 29, 2025 at 5:41 PM
I believe that we are about to see a major scientific conflict play out here on BlueSky, for better or for worse. I'll weigh in on this on the blog once I'm sure that I understand everyone's positions:
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
Of course, that will not make it a real LLPS scaffold, as real LLPS scaffolds can't exist.
We have debunked this narrative here.
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
We have debunked this narrative here.
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
A validation strategy to assess the role of phase separation as a determinant of macromolecular localization
Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS), determined by limited solubility in the cellular
milieu, is believed to drive subcellular compartmentalization. Hedtfeld et al. discuss
a general validation stra...
www.cell.com
November 29, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Of course, that will not make it a real LLPS scaffold, as real LLPS scaffolds can't exist.
We have debunked this narrative here.
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
We have debunked this narrative here.
www.cell.com/molecular-ce...
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
Moving towards our stretch target of £200,000!
A huge thank you to everyone who's donated - we're gonna challenge Labour and take the fight to Reform!
www.thecanary.co/trending/202...
A huge thank you to everyone who's donated - we're gonna challenge Labour and take the fight to Reform!
www.thecanary.co/trending/202...
Green Party raises more in a day than they did in six months
Green Party supporters are here to do two things: fundraise for the local elections and suck humbug, and they're all out of humbug
www.thecanary.co
November 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Moving towards our stretch target of £200,000!
A huge thank you to everyone who's donated - we're gonna challenge Labour and take the fight to Reform!
www.thecanary.co/trending/202...
A huge thank you to everyone who's donated - we're gonna challenge Labour and take the fight to Reform!
www.thecanary.co/trending/202...
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
I feel like one of the most underrated explanations for what's happening right now in global politics is that almost everyone has lost their minds.
November 30, 2025 at 2:59 AM
I feel like one of the most underrated explanations for what's happening right now in global politics is that almost everyone has lost their minds.
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
BOOM!! 100,000 signatures! Now let’s have a date for the debate
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
November 29, 2025 at 5:17 PM
BOOM!! 100,000 signatures! Now let’s have a date for the debate
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
RIP Tom Stoppard who did so much incredible work, not least writing every single line of dialogue in Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade.
November 29, 2025 at 5:18 PM
RIP Tom Stoppard who did so much incredible work, not least writing every single line of dialogue in Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade.
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
There is no evidence linking COVID-19 vaccines to deaths in children. There is evidence that COVID causes serious harm — including long COVID, MIS-C, cardiac complications & diabetes.
This administration’s actions are dangerous, and the damage to the public and children may be irreversible
This administration’s actions are dangerous, and the damage to the public and children may be irreversible
Big change: FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements under RFK Jr ally
Vinay Prasad signaled changes to annual flu shots, concurrent vaccines + more
Prasad said his team found link between covid-19 shots and kids' deaths, necessitating a new approach overall
with @rachelroubein.bsky.social
Vinay Prasad signaled changes to annual flu shots, concurrent vaccines + more
Prasad said his team found link between covid-19 shots and kids' deaths, necessitating a new approach overall
with @rachelroubein.bsky.social
FDA to impose strict new vaccine requirements, claiming child covid shot deaths
Vinay Prasad, the nation’s top vaccine regulator, said his team concluded that coronavirus shots were linked to children’s deaths, necessitating a new approach.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 29, 2025 at 1:47 PM
There is no evidence linking COVID-19 vaccines to deaths in children. There is evidence that COVID causes serious harm — including long COVID, MIS-C, cardiac complications & diabetes.
This administration’s actions are dangerous, and the damage to the public and children may be irreversible
This administration’s actions are dangerous, and the damage to the public and children may be irreversible
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
Your periodic reminder that science is not done by a few selected "stars scientists". Science is done by hundred of thousands. Siloed money mean a few flashy discoveries and a lot of waste. Want to change things? Make funding accessible and stop funding calls with less than 2% success rate.
· #AcademicSky ·
The European Research Council is launching €7m Plus Grants for ambitious, long‑term research — open to researchers at any career stage but limited to about 30 awards; current ERC grantees and applicants are ineligible, reports @clanicholson.bsky.social.
The European Research Council is launching €7m Plus Grants for ambitious, long‑term research — open to researchers at any career stage but limited to about 30 awards; current ERC grantees and applicants are ineligible, reports @clanicholson.bsky.social.
ERC’s new €7m Plus Grants open to researchers at any career stage - Research Professional News
European Research Council president describes scheme as part attempt to lure US talent
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 29, 2025 at 10:53 AM
Your periodic reminder that science is not done by a few selected "stars scientists". Science is done by hundred of thousands. Siloed money mean a few flashy discoveries and a lot of waste. Want to change things? Make funding accessible and stop funding calls with less than 2% success rate.
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
Jumping spiders can recognise one another. This ability to learn, remember and represent images is quite surprising for such a tiny-brained animal!
buff.ly/dCkwPr0
buff.ly/dCkwPr0
November 29, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Jumping spiders can recognise one another. This ability to learn, remember and represent images is quite surprising for such a tiny-brained animal!
buff.ly/dCkwPr0
buff.ly/dCkwPr0
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
"Peanuts please!" -Tufted Titmouse
November 28, 2025 at 11:58 PM
"Peanuts please!" -Tufted Titmouse
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
November 28, 2025 at 3:07 PM
I don’t know if anyone else notices or cares, but when I see a presentation in which the speaker uses obviously generated-AI images to illustrate their slides, it makes me immediately less confident in whatever other content they’re presenting.
Reposted by Elisa Fadda
In 24 hours this has now raised £150,000.
Thank you to the thousands of people who have donated.
Let's make small donations normal again!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hopeishere
Thank you to the thousands of people who have donated.
Let's make small donations normal again!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hopeishere
Hope is here.
Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
Help us beat Reform in May. Donate today ⤵️
November 29, 2025 at 7:18 AM
In 24 hours this has now raised £150,000.
Thank you to the thousands of people who have donated.
Let's make small donations normal again!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hopeishere
Thank you to the thousands of people who have donated.
Let's make small donations normal again!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/hopeishere